Homeless Center making a call to alms

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Posted Aug. 29, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Posted Aug. 29, 2013 at 3:15 AM

The Homeless Center offers one of the most crucial services for area residents during the winter months and it’s one of only a few such facilities in the seacoast area. Each year the shelter, located on Waste Management property just off Rochester Neck Road, in Rochester, puts a roof over the heads of scores of area residents, including dozens of children.

They also offer case management to their adult clientele, educating them about finances and staying within a budget. They work with them to find employment and a permanent home.

Homeless Center directors, through the years, consistently note that the majority of their clients are far from the drug using, drunken, homeless stereotype. They are generally area residents leading productive lives, who lost their jobs, were hit with a serious financial burden or simply have never understood the basics of working within a budget.

One important difference between the Homeless Center for Strafford County and the rest of the shelters in the area is that the HCSC receives no state or federal operating funds. It allows them to run a facility that focuses almost exclusively on single women and children. If they were receiving state or federal funds, they would be required to accept adult males, and undoubtedly, the number of volunteers would diminish. Volunteers are at the heart of the Homeless Center’s ability to provide their services.

It’s this subject with which our page one story deals. Every year, as the summer draws to a close, the shelter’s executive director puts out the call not only for donated goods and funding, but most importantly, to volunteers. Currently, the center has 29 returning volunteers. They need more than 50 to operate efficiently and to keep “volunteer burnout” at a minimum.

Every year, after the Homeless Center reminds us of the dire need for volunteers and donations for the upcoming season, the Rochester Times does what it can to help out. We encourage our readers to put out the feelers to friends and family to see if there’s anyone with a few hours a week, or even a month to spare. Quite often, the job just entails manning the station. Executive Director Susan Ford even suggests that volunteers bring a book. They can work as many or as few hours as they prefer. Ford only requests that volunteers agree to stay for the season as they need to undergo a few hours of training and a day of shadowing a staff member or experienced volunteer.

As they get closer to opening, on Oct. 7, they also will be seeking food items like meats, veggies and fruit, seasonings, oil, ketchup, relish, mustard, salad dressing, jellies, syrup and more.

Some of the most appreciated donated items are gift cards to places like Home Depot, Walmart, Hannaford and Market Basket and gas stations. The cards allow the staff at the center to shop for items they need when they need them.

And they also, of course, love to receive monetary donations. Financial contributions of any kind can be made in honor or memory of someone special. Donations can be mailed to The Homeless Center for Strafford County, P.O. Box 7306, Rochester NH 03839. To securely donate online, visit www.homelesscenterforstraffco.org/donate.html and click on the donate button toward the bottom of the page.

The shelter is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization and donations are tax deductible.